KINGSTON, N.Y. -- A task force charged with evaluating the flood vulnerability of the city's Rondout Creek and Hudson River waterfronts expects to present the final draft of its report to the mayor soon, a planning team member said on Monday.

Sacha Spector, director of conservation science for Scenic Hudson, said members of Kingston's Tidal Waterfront Flooding Task Force were reviewing the final draft and planned to forward it to Mayor Shayne Gallo in the next few days. The document is called "Planning for Rising Waters: Final Report of the city of Kingston Tidal Waterfront Flooding Task Force."

Gallo appointed the group in the fall of 2012 and charged it with evaluating the present and future vulnerability of the city's waterfront areas to flooding, storm surges and sea-level rises, the draft report states. Gallo asked the task force to recommend strategies for creating a resilient waterfront.

"Flooding in the Kingston waterfront is nothing new," the draft report states in its executive summary. "Over the last 100 years, the waterfront has experienced flooding from at least 12 hurricanes and tropical storms. Today, some areas of the waterfront, such as low areas along East Strand, occasionally flood when high tides coincide with a few inches of rain."

Spector said the task force not only assessed the vulnerabilities of the waterfront areas but also looked at opportunities for economic development and public access to the creek and river while making the area more resilient to risks.

"The report contains 24 recommendations for the city, both near-term and long-term, that we think will help the city capitalize on this waterfront at the same time it's making it safer and more sustainable," Spector said.

The task force identified waterfront assets and their vulnerabilities under a variety of sea-level rise and storm scenarios, the draft report states. In looking at the potential vulnerabilities, the task force used sea-level rise projections of an additional 20 inches by the 2060s and another 33 inches by the year 2100. With rapid ice melt, those projections increase to 36 inches by the 2060s and 68 inches by 2100.

Spector said those projections are based on research by the academic community and groups that study the Earth's climate.